Ray Rivera attends Monroe-Woodbury School Board meeting

However, the school Board member who is pursuing business interests in North Carolina did not attend May 4 public hearing on the proposed school budget Central Valley - Ray Rivera attended his first Monroe-Woodbury School Board meeting in 2011 on Thursday evening, April 28. Six days later, however, his name plate was once again pulled from the board table just moments before the start of the district’s public hearing on the proposed $149 million budget at the high. On April 28, none of Rivera’s colleagues on the school board spoke publicly about his return, nor did he made a public statement about his situation. Neither did anyone speak about him at the May 4 meeting. School Board member Theresa Budich, who first raised the issue in March when she asked how many seats would be contested in this month’s school board election, was not at the April 28 meeting. She was at the May 4 hearing. Conditions In a conversation prior to the April 28 meeting, Rivera said he has not yet decided whether he will resign his position or continue to serve the remainder of his term; it ends in May 2012. Rivera is a retired New York City Police officer and he and his family have been renting a home in North Carolina as he explores business opportunities in the security field. He sold his house in Highland Mills in late March. Rivera said the property sold faster than he and his wife expected and that he expected to have more time plot out what lies ahead for he and his family. There are a variety of conditions under which a school board member can be removed, including: missing three consecutive meetings without reasonable excuse; refusal to serve; removal by the state Commissioner of Education; incapacity; and abandoning residency. In a statement last month, School Board President Dr. Michael DiGeronimo said none of those conditions applied to Rivera. Should Rivera decide to resign before the end of his term, the school board would appoint someone to fill the seat until the following election. BOCES budget At the April 28 meeting, Rivera joined board Vice President Erich Tusch in voting again the district’s contribution to the Orange-Ulster BOCES 2011-12 budget. Tusch explained that his vote was not a statement about the quality of services the district receives from BOCES. Rather, he emphasized, he was concerned about what he didn’t know about the BOCES spending plan. M-W will contribute about $7 million to the regional educational services conglomerate for a variety of programs for Monroe-Woodbury students, ranging from technical and culinary skills to special education services. BOCES also plans to move from its facilities off Route 17A between Goshen and Florida to what is now the Arden Hill campus of Orange Regional Medical Center in Goshen. The medical center plans to open its new facility in the town of Wallkill sometime this summer. Guildelines, instead of complaints “Do we vote no and send a message,” he asked his seven colleagues on the meeting, “or do we approve and get on board early about costs?” The BOCES budget increases spending by 3.5 percent. The proposed $149 million Monroe-Woodbury school budget shows increased spending of less than one percent. And while the district has, for all intents and purposes, a hiring freeze, BOCES is adding staff. “If we are going to spend more on services,” Tusch said, “so be it.” His colleagues seemed to agree with his points, so much so that John Broderick asked what would the impact be of Monroe-Woodbury were to withhold its support foe the BOCES spending proposal. Rejecting the BOCES plan would affect administrative costs, but not programs, he was told. DiGeronimo brought the conversation to a close by advising: “Right now, we are complaining. We need to set guidelines, and share our guidelines with the BOCES board.” That task will fall to Schools Superintendent Edward Mehrhof.